The invention relates, in general, to devices for disabling road vehicles, and, in particular, to devices that puncture tires of road vehicles.
Law enforcement personnel are often required to halt fleeing vehicles, and military and security personnel are often required to stop unauthorized vehicles from entering secure areas. It is desirable in these circumstances to slow the vehicle by partially or completely disabling the vehicle. A conventional method of disabling the vehicle is to deflate the vehicle's tires. Although frequently done, it has been found that firing weapons at the tires of fleeing or approaching vehicles tires is inefficient and presents an unacceptable risk of injury to law enforcement/security/military personnel or bystanders.
A number of devices have been developed to serve as partial or complete barricades. Other devices may be deployed across roadways to puncture a vehicle's pneumatic tires as the vehicle passes over the device. Examples of conventional devices are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,652,059, issued to Groblebe, on Mar. 28, 1972; U.S. Pat. No. 4,382,714, issued to Hutchison, on May 10, 1983; U.S. Pat. No. 4,995,756, issued to Kilgrow et al., on Feb. 26, 1991; U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,950, issued to Kilgrow et al., on Oct. 19, 1993 (and reissue U.S. Pat. No. Re. 35,373 issued on Nov. 5, 1996); U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,397, issued to Soleau, on Jan. 9, 1996; U.S. Pat. No. 5,536,109, issued to Lowndes, on Jul. 16, 1996; U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,408, issued to Abukhader, on Mar. 18, 1997; U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,832, issued to Kilgrow, et al., on Jul. 7, 1998; U.S. Pat. No. 5,820,293, issued to Groen et al., on Oct. 13, 1998; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,849, issued to Pacholok et al., on Nov. 24, 1998.
The conventional devices may deflate the tires of a fleeing vehicle. However, the conventional devices have numerous disadvantages. Conventional tire deflation devices are bulky in size and, accordingly, are inherently cumbersome to deploy, store, operate, and maintain. Conventional tire deflation devices are awkward to handle and often difficult to quickly or surreptitiously move.
More importantly, although the conventional tire deflation devices may deflate tires, they also allow vehicles to continue traveling on the deflated tires. The failure to halt the travel of vehicles is a serious and potentially catastrophic disadvantage in many high security and combat situations. For example, when military personnel are attempting to halt a suicide car bomber's approach to a checkpoint, deflating the tires merely slows the vehicle down and allows the vehicle to continue traveling on the deflated tires. It is crucial in such situations to completely halt the vehicle to prevent the suicide car bomber from reaching his/her target.